Johannesburg - A councillor from Geluksdal, Tsakane, appeared in court on Monday facing charges of malicious damage to property.
Ward 82 in Tsakane has become a battleground between Councillor Henry Buidendacht and contractor Thando “Sparks” Dotyeni.
Buidendacht appeared in court yesterday facing charges of malicious damage to property.
It is believed that the two were at loggerheads over a R30 million project which has since become a thorn in the side for residents, some of whom are criticising the accused for pushing for a company close to him to get the tender.
Dotyeni, the founder of the Havingstone Group, said he was allegedly sabotaged by the councillor as he was installing fibre in the ward.
“We have got a project where we're installing fibre, if you come with a project to communities it's through the council.
“So we engaged with the councillor following due process and when we engaged him we only wanted labour from the area. We wanted to have between 60 and 80 labourers,” said Dotyeni.
Dotyeni said his group needed sub-contractors in the community and once the project was completed they would hand it over to the municipality and the company would continue to monitor the quality of the service provided.
Dotyeni said problems began when his company decided to install aerial fibre using poles and not through conventional trenching.
“The councillor said that the community does not want aerial fibre using poles as it may look clumsy. I then suggested that we will use mid block using the old Telkom poles, we will use the same line. In my conversation with the councillor, I found out that the real issue was no longer about poles, but there was another company that he wanted to do our work,” he said.
Dotyeni said that as a councillor, Buidendacht wasn't supposed to be involved in such processes to begin with.
“I am working legally, I have municipal way leaves, secondly the municipality isn't paying for the fibre we are installing for free. Residents will only be paying for subscription fees, but installation and infrastructure is free.
He claimed the councillor tried to sabotage the project, Dotyeni said.
“I warned Buidendacht that as councillor he wasn’t allowed to stop any development and that if he had an issue with the development, he could interdict us at the high court. I told him that he can also use the metro police to stop us and finally ask the municipality to suspend the municipal way leaves,” Dotyeni said.
"He convened a meeting where it was just supposed to be himself and the councillor to discuss a way forward, to Spark’s surprise he invited people from his ward, from ward 83 and ward 99.
“Bare in mind this is a matter concerning his own ward not other wards. He designed this zonal meeting to drum up support. In fact, I'm already engaged with the councillor from ward 99, he doesn't have a problem, he's actually waiting for us to finish in Guluksdal and move to his ward,” added Dotyeni.
“I told them that they should follow the legal processes as I wasn’t going anywhere,” lamented Dotyeni.
The councillor and four accused were arrested and appeared in court yesterday.
Dotyeni claims there are high-profile figures in Ekhuruleni and the Gauteng government who have pressurised the matter to favour the councillor, but he wasn’t going leave it lying down.
Efforts to get comment for Buidendacht proved unsuccessful before going to print.
The Star